Solar radiation is the most abundant energy source on earth. However, attempts to harness solar power on large scales have so far failed to be economically competitive with most fossil-fuel energy sources.
One reason for the lack of adoption of solar energy sources on a large scale is that fossil-fuel energy sources have the advantage of economic externalities, such as low-cost or cost-free pollution and emission. Another reason for the lack of adoption of solar energy sources on a large scale is that the solar flux is not intense enough for direct conversion at one solar flux to be cost effective.
Solar energy concentrator technology has sought to address this issue. For example, solar radiation energy is easily manipulated and concentrated using refraction, diffraction, or reflection to produce solar radiation energy having many thousands of times the initial flux. This can be done using only modest materials such as refractors, diffractors and reflectors.
Specifically, solar radiation is one of the most easy energy forms to manipulate and concentrate. It can be refracted, diffracted, or reflected to many thousands of times the initial flux utilizing only modest materials.
With so many possible approaches, there have been a multitude of previous attempts to implement low cost solar energy concentrators. So far, however, solar concentrator systems cost too much to compete unsubsidized with fossil fuels, in part because of large amounts of material and large areas that that solar collectors occupy. The large amounts of materials used to make solar concentration systems and the large areas that are occupied by solar concentration systems render solar concentration systems unsuitable for large-scale solar farming.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for improved apparatuses and methods for the collection of solar energy.